SEA SERPENT.

Grey River Argus, 29 October 1926, Page 8

SEA SERPENT.

> FACT OB FABLE? (By E. G. Boulenger, F.Z.S., in London ‘ ‘ Daily Telegraph. ’’) August is a month which heralds the appearance of that hardy annual, the sea serpent —not, in the flesh, but in the columns of the daily Press. For the silly season is past and over, Gone with the equinoctial gales; That sinuous hoax, the old sea rover, Curls the pride of his prancing scales, And the giant gooseberry misbegotten Lies in the limbo of all things rotten. In recent years the topic has been superseded by others, although from .the number of letters I constantly receive from those wishing to ascertain! my views on “Docs or docs not the! sea serpent really exist?’’ (the object being usually the settlement of a wager), interest in the monster is well maintained. That some unknown ser : pent-shaped animal of gigantic size roams the seas is believed in by many reputable persons, some even with a scientific turn of mind; others would deny its existence were they to sec it exhibited alive in the Zoological Society’s aquarium. The writer has the temerity to associate himself with the views of the former class, althoughhc wishes to emphasise strongly the fact that ho does not himself lay claim

to having ever seen the creature responsible for so much argument, ami such a flood of witticism. Perhaps the best sea-serpent story is that told by Kipling under the suggestive title of “A Matter of Fact.” In that vivid tale three enterprising journalists —an Englishman, an American, and a Dutchman —travelling on an ocean-going "tramp,” did actually with sober eyes see the sea-serpent, maimed and dying as the result of an earth tremor. Each wrote an ‘‘eye-witness’’-'account of what lie saw. On arrival in England, however, both the American and the Dutchman tear up their, copy. The Englishman submitted his story for publication, but as fiction.

There is no doubt that the so called sea-serpent has been often suggested by schools of porpoises, ribbon fish, swordfish, the tentacles of giant cuttlefish strands of seaweed, and drink. The creature was sincerely believed in many centuries ago, and the religions and mythologies of many nations contain sea-serpent superstitions, some representing the beast as being responsible for uch phenomena as waterspouts, sudden storms, and even the tides. The reported appearances of the sea-serpent between the years 1520 and 1890 have been tabulated by a persevering Dutchman, and his list totals close upon 200 cases. In the year 1830 a beauty was observed in the Atlantic by the master and crew of an American schooner. The neck of this serpent, wo are informed, was ornamented with a mane, and ever}

time its head came out of the water it made a noise similar to that of steam escaping from a boiler. In October, 1847, another was observed off St. Helena by the captain ,-iinl officers of her Majesty’s ship Daedalus. The length of the animal, which was described as having the head of a lizard, was estimated at over 100 ft. Its jaws, full of large and jagged teeth, were sufficiently capacious to admit a tall man standing up[right. Two years later the “Zoologist” published an encounter between a comparatively small sea-ser-pent ami a fishing party in Ballyeotton Bay. The monster on being shot at disgorged a shoal*or' fish, which when handled gave the most terrific, electric shocks. In 1880, near Zanzibar, a liiant specimen was observed to struggle with and apparently overmaster a sperm whale. A VERY MIXED GRILL. These modern sea-serpent, stories are, however, distinctly dull compared with those recounted in the sixteenth century by one Olaus Magnus, Archbishop of Upsala. According to this delight ful dignitary of the Church, the Norwegian coasts bred a sea-serpent that, having snatched a few grazing sheep from the cliff-tops, by way of an hors d ’oeuvre, would proceed to make a satisfying meal off a three-masted schooner garnished with deck-fittings, cargo, ballast, and a crew of fifty odd. His Grace not only set this clown in black and white, but illustrated the letterpress with his own drawings.

There could be, of course, no more admirable subject for a hoax than the sea-serpent. In 1895, Dr Albert C. Koch exhibited a sea-serpent skeleton measuring 114 feet in length, throughout Europe and America. He called it the “King of the Seas.” It eventually found its way to the Dresden Museum, where it was proved to be constructed of the remains of many individuals of a certain extinct whale. Undaunted by his exposure, this same gentleman perpetrated a similar hoax a few years later with a job lot of bones, which this time included those of bears and the mammoth. The most convincing evidence of the existence of some little-known serpentshaped marine animal has been given within the past twenty years by Mr E. G. B. Meade-Waldo, a member of the Zoological Society’s Council, and the late Mr M. J. Nichol, who was fo,r many years deputy director of the Cairo Zoological Gardens. The animal whose description tallied in many respects with, that given by the captain and officers of H.M.S. Daedalus, was observed by these naturalists off the coast, of Brazil during a cruise on the Earl of Crawford’s yacht the Valhalla. It was seen ■within 100 yards of the ship. At first, all that was observed was a dorsal fin about 4ft long standing up about two feet, out of the water. Below the water the outline of the creatui;e could be indistinctly seen. Suddenly an eel-shaped neck about 6ft long, and supporting a turtle-shaped head, appeared in front of the fin. For a short period the animal moved in the direction of the ship at about eight knots an hour, but suddenly dived and disappeared for ever from sight. The very fact, that in recent times sea-serpent stories have been invari-, 'ably received with derision is surely,! iin many cases evidence of their veracity, as only those conscious ofi their, I oivn unimpeachable honesty would bej tempted to encounter the sneers of

their incredulous countrymen. The seaserpent should not be hastily dismissed merely because he has not been actually hooked. The yet unexplored areas of the ocean run into many hundreds of square miles, and it would be almost surprising if the sea did not yield some hitherto unknown creature of large size. 1 submit, therefore, that we should at least give the sea-serpent the benefit of the doubt, and not condemn him along with all those who have tesjfied to his existence.